RAYMOND – The Town of Raymond has hired Sue Look, the former town clerk of West Bath, to replace longtime town clerk Louise Lester.

Look, a resident of Richmond who grew up in Pembroke in eastern Maine, has also worked for L.L. Bean and managed central voter registration for Maine’s Division of Elections. It was in this capacity that Look came to know Lester, who retired on June 30 after 25 years at the town office.

“I have known Louise for the past 10 years, first as a new clerk learning the ropes, and then from the point of view of the state,” Look said. “She has always been very helpful to me and great to deal with. I can only hope to live up to the standards she has set.”

Lester applauded Look’s hiring.

“I knew her from when she worked for elections, and I thought she was the best choice they could possibly make,” Lester said. “She’s been a clerk in the past and she certainly knows elections, and from her trainings that I went to, she seemed like a very competent, easy-to-get-along-with kind of person. I thought she’d fit in very well.”

Raymond’s new town clerk has roots in the area. Her father grew up in New Gloucester, and she has uncles in Raymond and Windham. Look has been married to her “high school sweetheart,” Al, for 33 years, and has two married daughters, and two grandchildren.

Look was born in Lewiston. Her father worked in the woolen industry, and the family lived in North Carolina, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and several Maine towns as Look grew up.

“Most of this moving was due to my father being in the woolen industry as it was dying out, and we followed the mill closings north,” she said.

Look’s hobbies include baking, sea kayaking with her husband, gardening and going to yard sales with her grandchildren. She said she loves the social quality of the clerk position.

“Of all of the positions I have held, town clerk was my favorite, and I was watching for an opportunity to return to it,” Look said. “Interaction with the town’s folks is what attracts me to this work, along with helping them to exercise the basic right to vote.”

Look worked for L.L. Bean for 15 years, ultimately managing the company’s customer name and address file. After being laid off during a downsizing, Look became the clerk of West Bath in 2004. She held that position for about four years, and then moved on to her position at the Division of Elections for another five years.

Town Manager Don Willard hired Look at the end of June.

“She has everything we were seeking in a new town clerk,” Willard said. “She’s worked in the private sector in customer relations. She has previously served as a town clerk in another community and she’s also worked for both the state bureau of elections and motor vehicles, which are two things which affect the clerk’s primary responsibilities.”

“I think she’s going to be a great fit for the town,” Willard added.

Sue Look, the former town clerk of West Bath, grew up in Pembroke, and has also worked for L.L. Bean and managed the Central Voter Registration for the Division of Elections.